


Proposal

by nerdqueenenterprise



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 03:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdqueenenterprise/pseuds/nerdqueenenterprise
Summary: Paul is very much not sure about his new workspace onboard Discovery. Especially not about the fact that there will bepeople. Also about whether he's good enough for Hugh.Hugh decides to put an end to Paul's worrying.Crossposted from Tumblr.





	Proposal

“Explain it to me again -  _why_  do we need to pretend to be married? Love,” Hugh says, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “You don’t have to  _pretend_  to be in a relationship with me. You are in one, and I love you a lot.”

“I kno- I - Hugh, that’s not the point!”

“Then what is the point? Paul, you’re… being weird.”

Paul runs his hands through his hair again. It’s spiking up prettily by now, which is cute, but also a clear indicator of his agitation, if you hadn’t guessed from his pacing and the general fidgeting.

“The point is you.”

“Okay?”

“The point is… all of you.” Paul gesticulates at him like yes, all of Hugh is the problem to an even bigger problem that sounds like he made it up, and that it’s a problem because it’s a problem. “The point is that you’re you, and you’re the way you are, and I’m going to be in charge of people. Do you see?”

“I… I’m trying to, but… no, sorry.”

Sigh. “You’re you.”

“So I’m the problem?”

“Yes.”

Hugh raises an eyebrow.

“And no,” Paul amends. “I - you’re an idiot.”

“That’s the problem?”

“No. Well, kinda, at the moment it is, but no, not technically.”

“Paul, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Didn’t your mom teach you not to swear?”

“Corazón, I’m at the end of my wit here. What are you talking about?” Hugh asks, fast approaching exasperated. He’s careful to keep that out of his voice, because it only serves to make Paul withdraw, and even though he is being ridiculous, maybe even intentionally so, it’s kinda cute and there’s probably a very profoundly adorable meaning behind everything.

“I’m talking about the fact that I’ll be in charge of a team of scientists starting tomorrow, which I’ve never been before, and that you need to pretend to be married to me.”

“I know, I understood that, but why is the one thing connected to the other?”

“There’ll be people. And I’ll have to talk to them.”

“And there’s an obscure social rule that says you need to be married in order to be allowed to talk to people?”

“Nooo, Hugh! They’re - what if they ask?”

“About whether you’re in a relationship?”

“Yes!” Paul is standing right in front of Hugh now, and his eyes are wide and blue and very, very pretty but also very fearful. Of what, Hugh doesn’t know, but he slips his arms around Paul’s waist and draws him close, resting their foreheads together.

“And then you tell them you’ve got a boyfriend, or whatever other term you’d prefer.”

“And what if they ask who you are?”

“Well… you can tell them my name; they’ll know me, there’s only little more than a hundred people on the Discovery.”

Paul groans like a wounded animal. “And then they’ll know who you are.”

“Yes. And?”

He closes his eyes and moves his face into Hugh’s shoulder.

“You know.”

“Is this some ‘I’m not good enough for Hugh’ bullshit?”

Paul groans again.

“And if they think I’m married nobody will make a move on me which otherwise they’d do because you’re not good enough for me or something?”

“If you say it like that it sounds bad.”

“That’s ‘cause it does, love. But I’ve got a better solution.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Let go of me for a second and don’t run off.” Hugh releases his grip and puts a fleeting kiss to Paul’s temple. Paul is frowning again, but it seems to be a frown of stubbornness, and that’s par the course for him.

Hugh returns and is happy to find Paul still standing where he left him, glaring a little, because for all Paul doesn’t like feeling bad about something (such as thinking he’s not good enough for Hugh, the concept of which is downright laughable), he’s usually also not too thrilled about being proved wrong. He’s a cute weirdo, and most importantly, Hugh’s weirdo.

“I think I wrote ten speeches, probably more,” Hugh begins softly, watching Paul’s face. “I spent hours considering scenarios and dates to take you on and perfect moments or cute moments or funny moments, but… well, I wanted it to be perfect, of course, so it makes for nice memories, but I didn’t want it to be just for show, you know?” There’s realization dawning on Paul’s face, and Hugh’s heart is suddenly somewhere in his throat. Which is odd because it’s just Paul and he’s pretty sure Paul’s going to say yes and he also loves Paul a lot. “And also… I could never really work out what to say. How to put into words how much you mean to me. I mean - I had classes on what to say in every situation, what some words mean, and I’ve known you for long enough that I know what to say around you, and how you react to certain trigger words and I know you, I know how you… you know, how you work and just… what you’re like, and I like that, a lot, obviously, and-”

“You’re rambling,” Paul interrupts, oddly calm.

“Yeah, yeah, I am. I’m - it’s stupid, but I’m… fuck, I’m so in love with you, and I don’t even know why but sometimes I just get the worst case of butterflies around you, and just because you laughed or said something or because you’re being cute, and it takes my breath away, and-”

“You’re still rambling.”

“Yeah. Marry me.” It comes out in one quick breath, a lot easier than Hugh ever thought, and also not as a question at all, and he’s not on his knee and he fumbles actually pulling out the ring, which is also stupid because he doesn’t even know whether Paul likes rings or whether he’ll like this one or whether he’ll even want to marry Hugh. “You - we wouldn’t have to pretend,” his mouth adds unnecessarily.

Paul stares.

Paul stares some more.

“Okay,” he says after what was probably only a second (it really was). “Okay, yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Hugh must’ve put the ring on Paul eventually, because it’s not in his hand anymore, but Paul’s eyes are really, really blue and there are a lot of butterflies in Hugh’s stomach and he’s very badly in love.

“You could tell them you’ve got a fiancé,” he offers and watches Paul smile.

“Believe me, I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


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